Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 19 The Invasion of the Canal Gang

The conflict came faster and more directly than expected.

For the Wei Shui Gang, local tyrants who have dominated the docks for over a decade, the concept of "courtesy before force" simply doesn't apply. Their logic is simple: whoever dares to touch their cheese, I'll smash their rice bowl and break their legs.

The next morning, the sky was overcast, as if brewing a cold rain that would bring an unexpected chill in spring.

At the abandoned warehouse that Lu's Carriage and Horse Trading Company had just rented by the dock for transshipment, things were bustling with activity. Dozens of men from Group A were packing a batch of newly arrived Liaodong ginseng, preparing to load it onto a ship for a southward journey.

"Bang!"

With a loud crash, the already somewhat dilapidated warehouse door was violently kicked open, and the two door panels crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Stop the fucking mess!"

A thunderous shout rang out. Immediately afterwards, a massive, dark mass of people surged in.

There were over a hundred people. They were all dressed in short black silk shirts, their chests open, revealing the hair on their chests and various ferocious tattoos. They didn't carry carrying poles, but rather iron rulers, short sticks, and even gleaming broadswords.

The leader, a short, stocky man with a face full of menacing features, twirled two solid iron balls the size of walnuts in his hands, making a crisp "crackling" sound. He was Lai San, the number one Red Stick of the Weishui Gang.

The refugees who were working were terrified by the sight. Although they had experienced war, they were still afraid of these fierce local bullies at heart, and instinctively retreated, huddling together.

"Who's in charge?" Lai San spat a mouthful of phlegm on the ground, his eyes sweeping fiercely over the entire area. "Get out here!"

Fan Fu was in charge of guarding the warehouse. Although the steward was flustered, remembering his master's instructions, he braced himself and stepped forward, bowing and saying, "Good sir, we are Lu's Carriage and Horse Company, and we have official documents..."

"Snapped!"

Before Fan Fu could finish speaking, Lai San slapped him across the face, sending Fan Fu spinning twice. Half of his face swelled up instantly, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"The government? At Luokou Wharf, Master Ma is the government!" Lai San grinned maliciously, kicking over a wheelbarrow beside him. Pointing at the expensive ginseng, he shouted, "Smash it! Chop up all these broken carts! Throw the goods into the river! Let these outsiders know that without paying their dues, they can't possibly eat this kind of food!"

"yes!"

The more than one hundred thugs behind him let out a strange howl and pounced on him like wolves and tigers.

"Clang, clang!"

The sounds of clubs breaking against the vehicle frame, porcelain shattering, and sacks being torn apart filled the air. Several men who tried to intervene were knocked to the ground, rained down with punches and kicks, producing dull thuds and screams.

"Stop! Those are medicines for the front lines!" Hu Jingshui hid in the tent, watching this scene, her heart aching and trembling all over.

Just when the situation was about to spiral out of control and turn into a one-sided massacre.

"Waaah—"

A piercing whistle suddenly pierced through the noise and echoed above the warehouse.

The whistle sounded less like a government official's brass whistle and more like a military command, short and forceful.

Lai San subconsciously looked up.

Suddenly, a row of figures appeared on the previously empty walls surrounding the warehouse.

Thirty men dressed in gray short jackets and wearing willow-twig helmets, holding three-meter-long sharpened bamboo spears, looked down at the people in the courtyard. Their eyes were cold and numb, as if they were looking at a group of dead people.

On the roof directly opposite the gate, a towering man held a horse bow, the bowstring taut, the arrow tip pointed directly at Lai San's forehead.

It was Zhao Changying.

"Try moving it." Zhao Changying's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling aura that seemed to have rolled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood. "Move it again, and I'll crack your skull open."

Lai San froze, the feeling of being stared at by a ferocious beast instantly soaking his back with sweat.

At that moment, a series of unhurried footsteps came from outside the gate.

The crowd parted automatically, and Lu Yan, dressed in a blue robe and even carrying a folding fan, strolled in leisurely. He didn't look at the fierce-looking thugs, but went straight to Fan Fu, who had been knocked to the ground, helped the butler up, and even took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Does it hurt?" Lu Yan asked softly.

"Master...it's my fault..." Fan Fu covered his face, tears streaming down his face, "I failed to protect the goods..."

"It's not your fault." Lu Yan patted his shoulder, then turned around, his gaze slightly darkening.

In that instant, Lai San felt as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake. This scholar clearly had no weapons and even looked somewhat frail, but the aura he exuded was more terrifying than that of all one hundred thugs combined.

"Lai San, is it?" Lu Yan spoke, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather. "You smashed my car, destroyed my goods, and beat up my housekeeper."

"So what...so what?" Lai Sanqiang mustered his courage and roared, his voice trembling with fear. "Scholar Lu, I advise you to be sensible! All three thousand laborers at this dock listen to the Weishui Gang! Your few dozen men aren't even enough to fill our teeth! If you know what's good for you, you'll pay fifty percent for every stone of goods you transport, otherwise..."

"Otherwise?" Lu Yan laughed, a somewhat eerie laugh.

He ignored Lai San's threat, instead turning to look at the guards on the wall, his voice suddenly turning cold, like metal clashing:

"Everyone, take your positions! Mandarin Duck Formation, get down the wall!"

"kill!"

The thirty core retainers on the wall roared in unison and leaped into the courtyard. They did not scatter, but quickly formed several small battle formations of three people each, with two spears and a shield (made from a pot lid), back to back.

This is the legacy left by Qi Jiguang, and also the result of Zhao Tie's day and night training.

"Attack them! Cripple them!" Lai San panicked and roared, brandishing his broadsword.

More than a hundred thugs, taking advantage of their numbers, rushed forward in a chaotic frenzy.

However, this was a massacre of street thugs by professional soldiers.

"prick!"

At the sergeant's command, spears flew like venomous snakes, precisely piercing the thugs' thighs and shoulders. The Wei Shui gang members' iron rulers and short sticks couldn't even reach their opponents before being knocked to the ground by the three-meter-long bamboo spears.

Once someone falls to the ground, a shield bearer will immediately follow up with a kick or smash their face with the edge of their shield.

"Ah! My leg!"

"Help! These people are insane!"

Screams echoed through the narrow courtyard of the warehouse. Lu Yan's men did not kill with lethal force (after all, this was under the emperor's nose), but every strike was aimed at incapacitating their opponents—severing hands, breaking legs, and shattering kneecaps.

This calm, efficient, and even aesthetically pleasing violence, reminiscent of an industrial assembly line, completely shattered the psychological defenses of the Wei Shui Gang.

In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

More than half of the hundred-plus men fell, and the rest dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground, trembling.

Lai San was stomped on the chest by Zhao Changying, his fleshy face was pressed into the mud, and his two shiny iron gallbladders rolled to the side, covered in mud.

Lu Yan walked up to Lai San, squatted down, used a folding fan to lift his chin, and stared into those fearful eyes.

"Go back and tell Master Ma."

Lu Yan pointed to the mess on the ground: "I've noted this debt. The damaged car, the destroyed goods, and Butler Fan's medical expenses, totaling two thousand taels."

"Make him deliver the silver to Shili Shop within three days. If it's less than one tael, I'll demolish his incense hall. If it's less than ten taels, I'll break one of his legs."

Lai San's lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

"Did you understand?" Lu Yan's voice remained gentle.

"I understand... I understand..."

"roll."

As Lu Yan stood up, Zhao Changying loosened his grip. Lai San scrambled out the door, as if a demon were chasing him.

Watching the fleeing figures in their disheveled state, Hu Jingshui limped over, his face full of worry: "Master, this is a complete breakdown in relations. Master Ma will definitely not let this go. He still has several hundred men under his command, and it's said that he's also colluding with the government. We're going to war with the entire Jinan canal gang."

"Go to war?"

Looking at the wounded soldiers groaning all over the ground, Lu Yan straightened his clothes, a cold, calculating glint typical of an engineer flashing in his eyes.

"Old Hu, this isn't called starting a war. This is called eliminating future troubles."

He picked up the two iron gallbladders from the ground and weighed them in his hand: "In this world, if you want to do big business, brains aren't enough; you also need teeth. Today, we've just shown them our teeth. If they still don't know what's good for them..."

Lu Yan loosened his grip, and the iron gall bladder slammed heavily onto the blue brick, shattering into pieces.

"Then break their bones, one by one."